Gearbox supporting means of a wind turbine, wind turbine, and method for maintaining a gearbox supporting means

ABSTRACT

A gearbox supporting device of a wind turbine with a rotor, a substantially horizontally oriented rotor shaft, a gearbox and a main frame. The gearbox supporting device includes at least one rolling bearing arranged between a rotor hub and the gearbox and at least two supports on the gearbox. The supports each have at least one central supporting body, at least one frame and a plurality of flat elastomer bodies that are or can be clamped between the frame and the supporting body. At least two of the supports are fixed bearings for absorbing at least 50% of the rotor thrust acting in the axial direction of the rotor shaft during the operation of the wind turbine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a gearbox supporting means of a wind turbinethat has a rotor, a substantially horizontally oriented rotor shaft, agearbox and a main frame, comprising at least one rolling bearingarranged between a rotor hub and the gearbox and at least two supportson the gearbox. The supports each have at least one central supportingbody, at least one frame and a plurality of flat elastomer bodies thatare or can be clamped between the frame and the supporting body. Theinvention further relates to a wind turbine and a method for maintaininga gearbox supporting means for a wind turbine.

2. Description of Related Art

Many modern wind turbines with substantially horizontally oriented rotorshaft axes have a gearbox in a nacelle or respectively a power house onthe top of the tower, which connects the rotor with a generator. A mainframe is housed in the nacelle, on which the generator and the gearboxare mounted. Since the main frame must also carry the rotor, athree-point support or a four-point support is normally used.

The three-point support, which is named as an example, comprises arolling bearing, through which the rotor shaft is guided and whichsupports the rotor shaft. Two additional bearing points are arrangedlaterally on the gearbox and fasten the gearbox on the main frame. Theselateral bearings also absorb the gearbox torque and are called supportsor respectively gearbox supports.

In most existing wind turbines with gearboxes, the rolling bearing onthe rotor shaft is designed as a fixed bearing, which means that thisrolling bearing absorbs rotor thrust that is transferred to the rotor bythe wind and transfers it to the main frame. The transmission is therebynot loaded with the corresponding rotor thrust and is thus preserved. Inthis case, the rotor shaft and the rolling bearing are designed in avery stable manner. The supports located laterally on the gearbox arethen designed as floating bearings so that they are designed as beingsoft in the axial direction, i.e. parallel to the rotor shaft axis.

Another function of the bearings, in particular the supports, is thedecoupling of structure-borne sound of the gearbox from the main frame.Normally, in known gearbox supports and in order to facilitatestructure-borne sound decoupling, each bolt head is encased in acylindrical rubber layer, also called a “bushing”, which buffers bothvertical as well as horizontal loads. Such bearings are soft in theaxial direction, i.e. parallel to the rotor shaft axis. The geometry ofthe bolt is specified by the rubber bushing. An adjustment of thestiffness for the specified geometry is possible through the selectionof the elastomer materials. The elastomer bushings also providestructure-borne sound decoupling of the gearbox and are frequentlydesigned as cylinder half-shells. The attachment parts of theseelastomer bodies can be produced with traditional machining processes,for example drilling and turning.

In the design of the bearings, the transfer of high loads, amountingnamely to a couple of hundred tons, an effective sound decoupling, easeof replacement of the elastomer elements that have aged under stress aswell as an economical production of the structure-borne sound decouplingas well as of the connection construction are to be taken intoconsideration.

A suspension system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,624 B2, in whichseveral planar elastomer bodies are used on different sides, which arerigid vis-à-vis a compression, instead of a cylindrical elastomer body.They are arranged around a central bearing and are clamped in an outerframe.

The use of elastic flat bodies as supports of a gearbox of a windturbine is also known from EP 1 197 677 A2, in which the gearboxcomprises laterally two bearing bodies having a rhomboid cross-section,on each of which a flat body is arranged obliquely to each other on thetop and on the bottom. The four flat bodies left and right of thegearbox together have a rhomboid shape.

The technical teaching in WO 2008/028616 A2 goes a different route, inwhich a support of a wind turbine uses two conical elastomer bodies witha vertical symmetry axis, with which a permanent support of the gearboxis also realized.

EP 1 867 871 A2 discloses a torque support that can be knocked off,which discloses a fixed bearing with cone elements and a flyingarrangement.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This object is solved through a gearbox supporting means of a windturbine with a rotor, a substantially horizontally oriented rotor shaft,a gearbox, and a main frame, which comprises at least one rollingbearing arranged between a rotor hub and the gearbox and at least twosupports on the gearbox, wherein the supports each have at least onecentral supporting body, at least one frame, and a plurality of flatelastomer bodies that are or can be damped between the frame and thesupporting body, wherein the gearbox supporting means is furtherdeveloped in that at least two of the supports are designed as fixedbearings for absorbing at least 50% of the rotor thrust acting in theaxial direction of the rotor shaft during the operation of the windturbine. In particular, it is provided that the supports designed asfixed bearings absorb more than 80%, in particular more than 95% of therotor thrust.

Within the framework of the present invention, a flat elastomer body isunderstood as planar, level bodies made of an elastomer, indifferentiation to elastomer bodies with bent or curved surfaces, suchas for example conical or cylindrical bodies, i.e. non-flat bodies.

The gearbox supporting means according to the invention has at least twosupports on the gearbox, which are designed as fixed bearings. It isthereby possible to design the rolling bearing on the rotor shaft as afloating bearing, but the rolling bearing can also be partially designedas a fixed bearing and can also absorb a portion of the rotor thrust.The less rotor thrust load the rolling bearing needs to absorb, thesmaller and more compact the bearing can be designed. In the case of asmaller bearing, the diameter of the rotor shaft can also be designedsmaller.

The use of the flat elastomer bodies according to the invention, whichare already known from the state of the art in connection with floatingbearings, considerably simplifies the production of the correspondingelastic bodies compared to the known round or conical bodies andcontributes to their durability.

The central supporting body and the frame require a changed geometrycompared to the bearings of the state of the art with cylindrical orrespectively hollow-cylindrical elastomers since level surfaces must nowbe produced for receiving the flat elastomer bodies, which arecomplementary to each other. These inclined planes should be producedwith a high precision with respect to each other. In contrast to theflat elastomer bodies, the frame and the central supporting body arehowever retained during the service life of the wind turbine so thatthey only need to be produced once, while the flat elastomer bodies needto be replaced during the course of the service life of a wind turbine.The increased effort to produce the level polygonal structure of thesupporting body and of the frame is thus counterbalanced by thesimplification of the production of the flat elastomer bodies comparedto the curved elastomer bodies.

The central supporting body is advantageously connected with the gearboxand the frame with the main frame, or the central supporting body isconnected with the main frame and the frame with the gearbox. Theinitially named embodiment, in which the supporting body is connectedwith the gearbox and the frame with the main frame, is particularlypreferred.

In a support designed as a fixed bearing, respectively at least two flatelastomer bodies on different sides of the central supporting body arepreferably oriented in different directions obliquely to the rotor shaftaxis and are arranged with respect to each other such that thesupporting body is wedged between the flat elastomer bodies in thedirection of a rotor thrust load parallel to the rotor shaft axis. Inthe case of flat elastomer bodies, which have only been used as floatingbearings up to now, this absorption of the rotor thrust leads to thrustand/or shear loading in the rubber. Rubber reacts to thrust with greatdeformations so that the flat elastomers deflect strongly. Ratelastomers in floating bearings are used in this manner. In the case ofthe wedging of the central supporting body according to the invention,the rotor thrust loads are henceforth partially transferred intocompressive loads in the rubber. Rubber reacts to pressure with a hardspring behavior so that the wedging greatly favors the use of the flatelastomer bodies as a fixed bearing.

Within the framework of the invention, rotor thrust is the axial forceresulting from the wind pressure on the rotor in the direction of therotational axis of the rotor. Depending on the operating state, inparticular also in braking maneuvers, a reversal of the thrust direction(negative rotor thrust) can also result. In this case, the rotor pullsthe tower forwards. For this reason, it is advantageous when the supportdesigned as a fixed bearing can absorb the force in both directions. Thewedging is thus preferably designed such that rotor thrusts in bothdirections are securely absorbed so that a fixed bearing is realized inboth force directions.

The central supporting body is preferably a bolt. The bolt or thecentral supporting body preferably has a substantially polygonalcross-section in order to provide contact surfaces for the flatelastomer bodies.

The central supporting body preferably has a cross-section that isvariable in the direction of the rotor shaft, in particular variable inheight, for adjusting the wedging. The variable cross-section resultsfrom the obliquely set support surfaces of the supporting body for theflat elastomer bodies. Since the torque loads of the gearbox must beabsorbed by the support, the flat elastomer bodies are preferablyarranged above and below the central supporting body, since lateral,i.e. horizontal loads, perpendicular to the rotor shaft axis are lesslarge than those that lead in the vertical direction provided that thesupport is arranged laterally on the gearbox. The variable height isthus the preferred variant since the bearing serves as a support. In thecase of a support arranged for example below the gearbox, a differentgeometry should be selected, if applicable, so that for example asubstantially symmetrical cross-section or wide cross-section withlaterally arranged flat elastomer bodies is preferably selected here.

In the design process, the geometry of the central supporting body isselected in particular through adjustment of the height such that thematerial usage for the horizontal and vertical loads is the same.

A support advantageously has a single-sided or a double bearing. Adouble bearing is a bearing in a “T” configuration, wherein one arm ofthe support, which is connected with the gearbox or the machine support,ends on the support in a double bolt or respectively double supportingbody with two bolt heads or respectively with two supporting bodies, inwhich each individual bolt head or respectively supporting body withflat elastomer bodies is clamped in a separate frame. This doublebearing or respectively double-sided bearing is particularly stable andreduces the constructive effort for each individual mounting.

A so-called “flying bearing” is also a preferred single-sided bearing.It reduces the constructive effort, wherein however the one bearing mustbe more solid than the individual bearings in a double-sided bearing. Aflying bearing has advantages in terms of maintainability since fewerflat elastomer bodies need to be replaced when they are worn. Moreover,the accessibility is improved since the mounting of the flying bearingcan be attached to a side of the support that can be easily reached byoperating personnel, while space to access the bearing is often verylimited on the opposite side.

One or more flat elastomer bodies are advantageously designed aspolygonal flat elastomer bodies with more than three, in particularrounded, corners, as elliptical flat elastomer bodies or as circularflat elastomer bodies. In this case, circular flat elastomer bodies areparticularly preferred since they are subject to particularly lithe wearsince the round shape involves in any case an even distribution offorce. It is advantageous to round the corners in polygonal, for examplesquare or rectangular, elastic flat elastomer bodies in order to avoidforce peaks on the corners, which lead to particularly fast materialfatigue.

The height of the central supporting body is preferably greater than thewidth of the supporting body. This is in particular the case in alaterally attached support, in which the greatest load occurs in thevertical, brought about on one hand by the pitching moment of the rotorintroduced via the leverage of the rolling bearing and the rotor shaftand on the other hand by the forces acting in the vertical directionfrom the torque during the operation of the wind turbine.

The flat elastomer bodies are preferably arranged at angles of more than45° or of less than 45° to a horizontal or a vertical line, inparticular depending on the loads acting on them during the operation ofthe wind turbine, in particular rotor thrust, torque, yaw moment and/orpitching moment. This deviation of the tilt angle from 45° is to bedetermined depending on the occurring forces. In the case of laterallyarranged supports, flatter arrangements are advantageous, in which theflat elastomer bodies are arranged for example at angles with respect toa horizontal plane of between 15° and 40°, preferably 25° to 35°.

The central supporting body is advantageously arranged parallel orperpendicular to the rotor shaft axis, in the case of a perpendiculararrangement to the rotor shaft axis, in particular substantiallyhorizontally. Two options for the orientation of the central supportingbody are thus specified. One option is the orientation known from thefloating bearings with hollow and cylindrical elastomer bodies parallelto the rotor shaft axis. This is space-saving in particular in the widthsince the actual bearing with the elastomer bodies can be arranged veryclose to the gearbox. The alternative is the orientation of the centralsupporting body perpendicular to the rotor shaft axis, in particular ina horizontal direction. This embodiment requires little space in adirection parallel to the rotor shaft axis.

The gearbox supporting means according to the invention is preferablyfurther developed in that the frame has an upper frame part and a lowerframe part, which are or can be interconnected by means of studs,wherein the studs are or can be stuck through continuous openings in theupper frame part and can be connected with the lower frame part or themain frame or the gearbox, wherein the studs are provided with screwnuts above the upper frame part, wherein the lower frame part is or canbe permanently connected with the main frame. In particular, the studsare or can be additionally stuck through continuous openings in thelower frame part and provided with screw nuts between the upper framepart and the lower frame part. In this case, the studs can serve toscrew the entire frame with the main frame. The lower frame part canalso be welded for example with the main frame. Such a design with twoframe parts, the central supporting body arranged in between and theflat elastomer bodies arranged in between is particularly well suitedfor assembly, disassembly and maintenance. The upper and lower frameparts can also be called “Oberbock” and the “Unterbock” in German.

In particular, a disassembly holding body is preferably included in thelatter case, which can be connected on one side with a part of thesupport connected with the gearbox and on the other side with a part ofthe support connected with the main frame or with the main frame itself.In particular, the disassembly body can be connected with the supportingbody on one side and the lower frame part or the main frame on the otherside if the supporting body is connected with the gearbox. Thisdisassembly holding body can hold the central supporting body and thusthe support in a stationary position when the frame is screwed on inorder to replace or to inspect the flat elastomer bodies. If the centralsupporting body or the frame is not held tight, the gearbox could betorn upwards over the rolling bearing under the weight of the rotor andthe wind turbine could be damaged.

Further, the object underlying the invention is also solved through awind turbine with a previously described gearbox supporting meansaccording to the invention.

Finally, the object underlying the invention is also solved through amethod for maintaining a previously described gearbox supporting meansof a wind turbine according to the invention, in which

a) for maintaining flat elastomer bodies arranged between the centralsupporting body and the upper frame part

-   -   first the disassembly holding body is connected on one side with        a part of a support connected with the gearbox and on the other        side with a part of the support connected with the main frame or        with the main frame,    -   then the screw nuts on the studs are loosened above the upper        frame part and/or        b) for maintaining flat elastomer bodies arranged between the        central supporting body and the lower frame part    -   first the screw nuts on the studs are loosened above the upper        frame part and    -   then the gearbox with the central supporting body is lifted by        the rotor weight or by an auxiliary means.

This method also makes it possible to remove, inspect and replace, ifnecessary, the flat elastomer bodies arranged on all sides of thecentral supporting body without needing to otherwise secure the gearbox.For example, electrical or hydraulic lifting devices are used asauxiliary means when the rotor weight is insufficient.

If both the upper and the lower flat elastomer bodies need to bemaintained, it is preferably provided that

-   -   if the steps a) and b) are performed in succession, after        execution of the sub-steps of step a) and before execution of        the sub-steps of step b), the frame is tensioned again and the        disassembly holding body is removed, or    -   if the steps b) and a) are performed in succession, after        execution of the sub-steps of step b) and before execution of        the sub-steps of step a), the frame is tensioned again.

In this manner, a secure and efficient maintenance procedure ispossible.

The advantages, characteristics and properties named for the individualinvention objects, i.e. the gearbox supporting means, the wind turbineand the method, also apply without restriction to the respective otherinvention objects, which relate to each other.

Further characteristics of the invention will become apparent from thedescription of the embodiments according to the invention together withthe claims and the included drawings. Embodiments according to theinvention can fulfill individual characteristics or a combination ofseveral characteristics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below, without restricting the general ideaof the invention, based on exemplary embodiments in reference to thedrawings, whereby we expressly refer to the drawings with regard to thedisclosure of all details according to the invention that are notexplained in greater detail in the text. The figures show:

FIG. 1 is an elevational cross-section view through the nacelle of aknown wind turbine,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a support with flat elastomer bodies,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another floating bearing with flatelastomer bodies,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another example of a floating bearingwith flat elastomer bodies,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a support according to the invention,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a support according to the invention,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another support according to theinvention,

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the support according to FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 a schematic cross-sectional representation through a supportaccording to the invention designed as a flying bearing,

FIG. 10 a schematic representation of another support according to theinvention,

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the support according to FIG. 9,

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another support according to theinvention,

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another support according to theinvention,

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of another support and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the support according to FIG. 14.

In the drawings, the same or similar types of elements and/or parts areprovided with the same reference numbers so that a reintroduction isomitted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional representation through a nacelle of aknown wind turbine, for example the MD70 wind turbine of the applicant.The nacelle 3 sits on a tower 2, of which the section dose to thenacelle 3 is shown. The left side of FIG. 1 shows a rotor with a rotorhub 4, rotor blades 5, which are shown in the area of the rotor bladeroot only. The rotor blades 5 each have in the area of the rotor bladeroot a rotor blade bearing 6, on which a blade adjustment drive 7engages. The blade adjustment drive 7 is driven by a controller 8 andchanges the blade pitch angle of the respective rotor blade 5 during theoperation of the wind turbine 1.

The nacelle 3 houses a main frame 12, which is connected with the tower2 via a tower head rotating assembly 9. Yaw drive motors 10 of anazimuth adjustment engage with the tower head rotating assembly 9, whichorient the nacelle or respectively the rotor towards the direction ofthe prevailing wind. There are four yaw drive motors 10 for this, two ofwhich are arranged on the shown side and two are hidden behind it on theother side of the main frame 12. Azimuth brakes 11 also engage with thetower head rotating assembly 9, which serve to lock the azimuthadjustment of the rotor.

The rotor drives a rotor shaft 13, which is rotatably mounted in a rotorbearing 14 designed as a rolling bearing. In the case of the MD70 windturbine of the applicant, the rotor bearing 14 is designed as a fixedbearing, which only permits a few millimeters of play in the axialdirection of the rotor shaft 13. The rotor shaft 13 drives a gearbox 15,which converts the slow rotational movement of the rotor shaft into afast rotational movement of a generator shaft 19, which is shown withcouplings, which in turn drives a generator 20 for energy powergeneration, which is equipped with a heat exchanger 21.

The gearbox 15 also has a rotor brake 17 and a slip ring transmitter 18as well as two elastic gearbox suspensions or respectively supports 16,one of which is shown in FIG. 1, while the other is locatedsymmetrically on the other side of the gearbox 15 and is thus hidden bythe gearbox 15.

The support 16 or respectively the elastic gearbox suspension isdesigned conventionally and consists of hollow and cylindrical elastomerbodies made of two semi-cylindrical partial bodies, which are arrangedaround a cylindrical bolt. With its cylindrical bearings, thecylindrical axis of which is oriented parallel to the rotor shaft 13,the support 16 is a floating bearing since it only absorbs little rotorthrust force in the direction of the rotor shaft axis due to itssoftness in this direction.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a floating bearing as a support with flatelastomer bodies. The substantially cylindrical housing part of thegearbox 15 is shown in sections in the background of FIG. 2. It isconnected with a central supporting body 40 of the shown support via abearing arm 49, the longitudinal axis of which is oriented parallel tothe rotor shaft. In cross-section, the supporting body 40 is square andhas four support surfaces 48 in a 45° arrangement, on which rectangularflat elastomer bodies 41 rest. Around the supporting body 40 and theflat elastomer bodies 41, a frame 30 with an upper frame part 31 and alower frame part 32 or respectively upper stand and lower stand arearranged, between which the supporting body 40 and the flat elastomerbodies 41 are clamped. The upper frame part 31 and the lower frame part32 have corresponding complementary support surfaces 38 for the flatelastomer bodies 41.

For clamping the central supporting body 40 and the flat elastomerbodies 41, the frame parts 31, 32 have through openings 36, 37, throughwhich studs 33 are stuck, which are connected with the main frame (notshown) on the lower end. Screw nuts 35, which are received in theinstalled state by a recess in the upper and/or lower frame part, serveto tension the lower frame part 32 with the main frame. Additional upperscrew nuts 34 serve to tension the upper frame part 31 with respect tothe lower frame part 32. Through the upper screw nuts 34, the supportingbody 40 is thus damped with the flat elastomer body 41.

The central supporting body 40 has four connection openings 42 on itsfront surface 47. Furthermore, the lower frame part 32 has a connectionopening 39 centrally or respectively centered on its front surface.These connection openings 39 and 42 serve to mount a disassembly holdingbody 43, which is fastened on its upper end with four screws 44 on thesupporting body 40 and enters the connection opening 39 on its lower endwith a connection body 45 and thus prevents the supporting body 40 frombeing able to move with respect to the lower frame part 32. It is thuspossible to raise the upper frame part 32 after loosening the upperscrews 34 and to get to the upper flat elastomer bodies 41.

On the other hand, if it is provided that the lower flat elastomerbodies 41 below the supporting body 40 need to be maintained, then it isnot necessary to use the disassembly holding body 43 but rather theupper screw nuts 34 are just loosened or respectively screwed upwards.Under the weight of the rotor, the gearbox is raised and thereby takesalong the supporting body 40 and the upper frame part 31 upwards. If theown weight of the rotor is insufficient, the gearbox is raised ifnecessary with an auxiliary means, for example hydraulically.

FIG. 3 shows another example of a support designed as a floating bearingwith flat elastomer bodies 41, which differs from the example shown inFIG. 2 by the geometry of the central supporting body 40′. The tiltangles of the support surfaces 48′ are the same as the tilt angles ofthe support surfaces 48 in FIG. 2. The cross-section of the supportingbody 40′ is however higher so that the supporting body 40′ also has twolateral surfaces. Due to the larger height of the supporting body 40′,it can absorb higher vertical loads, resulting for example from therotor torque. According to the invention, it is provided that thecross-sectional height for the dimensioning is selected such that it isoptimally adjusted for the ratio of vertical force to horizontal force.The shape of the bearing arm 49′ is also adjusted to the shape of thesupporting body 40′, also for the shape of the front surface 47′ of thesupporting body 40′. Moreover, the disassembly holding body 43′ ishenceforth designed triangularly with two connection bodies 45. Thenumber of connection openings 39 and connection bodies 45 is alsoselected according to the occurring loads.

The upper frame part 31′ and the lower frame part 32′ of the frame 30′are also respectively elongated laterally in order to accommodate thetaller size of the supporting body 40′. This central supporting body 40′has a higher load-bearing capacity compared to the central supportingbody 40 of FIG. 2 due to its increased cross-section, in particular inthe vertical direction.

FIG. 4 shows another schematic example of a support designed as afloating bearing, in which the corresponding elements are labeled withreference numbers 32″, 40″ etc. in order to clarify the differencescompared to the examples in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. In the support shown inFIG. 4, the cross-section of the central supporting body 40″ ishexagonal, wherein the tilt of the support surfaces 38″ and the flatelastomer bodies 41 to the horizontal plane is 30°. As can be seen onthe front surface, this shape also requires a triangular disassemblyholding body 43. This shape of the frame 30″ and of the supporting body40″ is also designed in the vertical direction for high loads, whereinin particular the flat elastomer bodies 41 arranged in a flatter mannerare suitable for absorbing the higher vertical load and the lowerhorizontal load.

FIG. 5 shows a first exemplary embodiment of a support according to theinvention in a schematic and perspective manner. The reference numbersfor the similar details are increased by 20 compared to FIGS. 2 to 4.Compared to the supports in FIGS. 2 to 4 designed as floating bearings,the support shown in FIG. 5 is designed so that the central supportingbody 60 has a cross-section that is variable along its length. Lookingat the front surface 67 of the supporting body 60, the flat elastomerbodies 41 have a tilt of approximately 30° to the horizontal. Thecentral supporting body 60 also has two perpendicular lateral surfaces.However, FIG. 5 shows that the vertical cross-section of the supportingbody 60 decreases parallel to the rotor shaft axis in the directiontowards the center of the supporting body 60. This means that thesupport surfaces 68 of the supporting body 60 as well as the flatelastomer bodies 41 are also arranged sloped in this direction, namelywith a tilt of approximately 20°. The upper and lower flat elastomerbodies 41 are thus arranged effectively in a doubled wedge shape withrespect to each other.

Progressively after passing the center of the supporting body 60, theother flat elastomer bodies are arranged mirror-symmetrically withrespect to the visible flat elastomer bodies so that another, reversedwedge shape results. This doubled wedge shape absorbs rotor thrust loadsin both directions towards the rotor shaft as well as the gearbox. Thesupport surfaces 58 in the upper frame part 51 and in the lower framepart 52 are designed in a correspondingly complementary manner. Thebearing arm 69, which connects the central supporting body 60 with thegearbox 50, is designed correspondingly in cross-section. This is anexample of a flying bearing.

FIG. 6 shows schematically the support according to the invention ofFIG. 5 in another perspective representation. The upper frame part 51 isthereby shown in a transparent manner so that the geometry of the fourupper flat elastomer bodies is dearly visible. They are arranged in asubstantially saddle-shaped manner with respect to each other. The samealso goes for the not completely visible lower flat elastomer bodies 41.The flat elastomer bodies 41 shown perspectively on the front surface 67absorb those axial forces that are oriented away from the observer,while the flat elastomer bodies 41 arranged behind it absorb the axialforces acting towards the observer.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show another example of a support of a gearbox supportingmeans according to the invention in which the reference numbers areincreased by an additional 20 compared to the example in FIGS. 5 and 6.In this case, the flat elastomer bodies 41 are not arranged in asaddle-shaped manner, but rather such that their normal vectors pointtowards each other. In both cases, i.e. in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, theobserver is looking at the front surface 87 with the correspondingopenings for a disassembly holding body 43′, wherein the flat elastomerbodies 41 oriented towards the observer absorb axial forces in thedirection towards the observer through the wedging of the centralsupporting body 80, and the flat elastomer bodies 41 facing away fromthe observer absorb the opposite rotor thrust forces. The normal vectorstowards the flat elastomer bodies 41 or respectively the supportsurfaces 88 or respectively 78 have substantially an “X” shape in thiscase. This is in contrast to the exemplary embodiment in FIGS. 5 and 6,in which these surface normal vectors point away from each other andsubstantially have an “O”-shaped configuration.

FIG. 9 shows a cross-section through a corresponding support accordingto the invention according to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. A bearing arm 89, whichis connected with a housing of the gearbox 15, opens into a centralsupporting body 80 with several support surfaces 88, on each of whichrests a flat elastomer body 41. This supporting body 80 is only mountedon one side so that it is a flying bearing. It is particularlyspace-saving and easy to maintain.

The normal vectors N1 to N4 on the flat elastomer bodies 41 pointtowards each other and together result in a type of “X” configuration,in particular with respect to a symmetry axis S through the centralsupporting body 80. It is clear that the flat elastomer bodies 41 arecomposite flat bodies, which can be produced in a known manner through alayering of metallic plates and elastic material inserted in between,for example rubber or an artificial elastomer. In this preferredembodiment, it is possible through suitable selection of the flatelastomer layers and the number of intermediate plates to adjust thespring rigidity within a broad range, as is beneficial for the actingmass and load ratios.

The left side of FIG. 9 also shows a disassembly holding body 43′ in aninstalled position, wherein a connection body 45 of the disassemblyholding body 43 is inserted in a corresponding receiving opening 39 inthe lower frame part 72, while the screws 44 connect the upper part ofthe disassembly holding body 43′ with the supporting body 80. Thisarrangement has the advantage of easy accessibility and easymaintainability since the support can be arranged on a side that iseasily accessible.

An alternative design of the disassembly body provides that the centralsupporting body 80 in FIG. 9 is elongated far enough to the left that asufficiently large bore hole from top to bottom has room next to theframe. Through this bore hole, a disassembly holding body, e.g. in theform of a large screw or a stud, is then screwed and connected with thebase frame or a component connected with the lower frame part 72.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show two exemplary embodiments according to theinvention, which are oriented towards the exemplary embodiments in FIGS.5 to 9. The configuration of the central supporting body and of theframe in FIG. 10 thus corresponds with that of the frame 50 according tothe invention of FIGS. 5 and 6. The configuration in FIG. 11 correspondswith that in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. However, in contrast to theaforementioned figures, the flat elastomer bodies 41′ are not designedin a rectangular manner, but are round. This leads to lower local loadsof the flat elastomer bodies 41 and thus 41′ and thus to an increasedservice life and reduced maintenance frequency.

FIG. 12 shows another exemplary embodiment of a support according to theinvention, wherein a double flying bearing with a central doublesupporting body 90 with two supporting bodies 91, 92 clamped on one sideis used. Each individual supporting body 91, 92 of the double supportingbody 90 is in turn designed with an “O”-shaped normal vectorconfiguration according to the exemplary embodiment in FIGS. 5, 6 and10. The frames 50 also correspond with those in FIGS. 5, 6 and 10.However, they can be designed with reduced load specifications, ifnecessary, due to the doubled design. With respect to the maintenance ofthe flat elastomer bodies 41 damped therein, the accommodation of adisassembly holding body 43, 43′ is not necessary since the gearbox isrespectively held by the frame that is currently not being maintained.

FIG. 13 shows another exemplary embodiment of a support according to theinvention concerning once more a flying bearing, wherein however thecentral supporting body 110 is arranged obliquely to the rotor shaftaxis. In relation to the rotor thrust forces in the direction of therotor shaft axis, the flat elastomer bodies 41 are arranged in an “X”configuration with respect to their normal vectors. An “O” configurationprevails with respect to radial components in relation to the gearbox15. The flat elastomer bodies 41 are arranged on the top side and on thebottom side in a substantially saddle-shaped manner. The frame parts101, 102 of the frame 100 as well as the support surface 108 aremodified for this configuration. This preferred embodiment represents aparticularly compact and material-saving arrangement.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show schematic representations of another inventivesupport. The support shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 comprises a centralsupporting body 130 as well as a bearing 120 with bearing parts 121, 122between which two conical elastomer bodies 141 are clamped, wherein thecommon central symmetry axis of the cones is in turn parallel to therotor shaft axis. The conical elastomer bodies 141 are oriented withrespect to each other such that an “X” configuration results withrespect to their surface normal vectors in cross-section and inelongation to the common central axis, comparable with the situationshown in FIG. 9. This also concerns an unsupported bearing, on the headend of which a disassembly holding body 43′ can be used.

The conical elastomer bodies 141 are not the flat elastomer bodies 41,41′ provided in the present application according to the invention,which are designed substantially without a curvature in one plane.However, the versions shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 have their owninventive rank. Due to the aforementioned “X” configuration, they permiteasy access and replacement and are thus maintenance-friendly. They alsooffer the option of a flying bearing.

All named characteristics, including those taken from the drawingsalone, and individual characteristics, which are disclosed incombination with other characteristics, are considered individually andin combination as essential to the invention. Embodiments according tothe invention can be realized by the individual features, or acombination of several features.

LIST OF REFERENCES

1 Wind turbine

2 Tower

3 Nacelle

4 Rotor hub

5 Rotor blade

6 Rotor blade bearing

7 Blade adjustment drive

8 Controller of the blade adjustment

9 Tower head rotating assembly

10 Yaw drive motors

11 Azimuth brakes

12 Main frame

13 Rotor shaft

14 Rotor bearing

15 Gearbox

16 Elastic gearbox suspension

17 Rotor brake

18 Slip ring transmitter

19 Generator shaft with couplings

20 Generator

21 Heat exchanger

30-30″ Frame

31-31″ Upper frame part

32-32″ Lower frame part

33 Studs

34, 35 Screw nuts

36, 37 Through openings

38 Support surface

39 Connection opening

40-40″ Central supporting body

41 Rat elastomer body

41′ Round flat elastomer body

42 Connection openings

43, 43′ Disassembly holding body

44 Screws

45 Connection body

47-47″ Front surface

48-48″ Support surface

49-49″ Bearing arm

50 Frame

51 Upper frame part

52 Lower frame part

58 Support surface

60 Central supporting body

67 Front surface

68 Support surface

69 Bearing arm

70 Frame

71 Upper frame part

72 Lower frame part

78 Support surface

80 Central supporting body

87 Front surface

88 Support surface

89 Bearing arm

90 Double supporting body

91, 92 Supporting body

100 Frame

101 Upper frame part

102 Lower frame part

108 Support surface

110 Central supporting body

120 Frame

121 Upper frame part

122 Lower frame part

128 Support surface

130 Central supporting body

138 Support surface

141 Conical flat elastomer body

S Symmetry axis

N1-N4 Normal vectors

What is claimed is:
 1. A gearbox supporting device of a wind turbinewith a rotor, a substantially horizontally oriented rotor shaft, agearbox and a main frame, said gearbox supporting device comprising: atleast one rolling bearing arranged between a rotor hub and the gearboxand at least two supports on the gearbox, wherein the supports each haveat least one central supporting body, at least one frame and a pluralityof flat elastomer bodies that are clamped between the frame and thesupporting body, wherein at least two of the supports are fixed bearingsfor absorbing at least 95% of rotor thrust acting in an axial directionof the rotor shaft during operation of the wind turbine.
 2. The gearboxsupporting device according to claim 1, wherein the central supportingbody is connected with the gearbox and the frame with the main frame. 3.The gearbox supporting device according to claim 1, wherein at least oneof the supports is a fixed bearing, and wherein at least two of the flatelastomer bodies are disposed on different sides of the centralsupporting body and oriented in different directions obliquely to arotor shaft axis and are arranged with respect to each other such thatthe central supporting body is wedged between the flat elastomer bodiesin a direction of a rotor thrust load parallel to the rotor shaft axis.4. The gearbox supporting device according to claim 3, wherein thecentral supporting body has a cross-section that is variable in adirection of the rotor shaft, and wherein the cross-section of thecentral supporting body is variable in height for adjusting the wedging.5. The gearbox supporting device according to claim 1, wherein at leastone of the supports has a single-sided or double bearing.
 6. The gearboxsupporting device according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the flatelastomer bodies have a polygonal shape with more than three roundedcorners.
 7. The gearbox supporting device according to claim 1, whereina height of the central supporting body is greater than a width of thecentral supporting body.
 8. The gearbox supporting device according toclaim 1, wherein during at least one of rotor thrust, torque, yawmoment, and pitching moment, the flat elastomer bodies are arranged atangles of more than 45° or of less than 45° to a horizontal line.
 9. Thegearbox supporting device according to claim 1, wherein the centralsupporting body is arranged parallel or perpendicular to a rotor shaftaxis, and wherein the central supporting body is substantiallyhorizontal when the central supporting body is arranged perpendicular tothe rotor shaft axis.
 10. The gearbox supporting device according toclaim 1, wherein the frame has an upper frame part and a lower framepart that are interconnected by studs, wherein the studs extend throughcontinuous openings in the upper frame part and are connected with atleast one of the lower frame part, the main frame, and the gearbox, andwherein the studs are provided with screw nuts above the upper framepart and the lower frame part is permanently connected with the mainframe.
 11. The gearbox supporting device according to claim 10, furthercomprising a disassembly holding body that is connected on a first sidewith a part of the support connected with the gearbox and connected on asecond side with a part of the support connected with the main frame orwith the main frame itself.
 12. A wind turbine with a gearbox supportingdevice according to claim
 1. 13. A method for maintaining a gearboxsupporting device of a wind turbine according to claim 11, comprisingthe steps of: a) maintaining the flat elastomer bodies arranged betweenthe central supporting body and the upper frame part by first connectingthe disassembly holding body on the first side with the part of thesupport connected with the gearbox and connecting the second side of thedisassembly holding body with the part of the support connected with themain frame or with the main frame and then loosening the screw nuts onthe studs above the upper frame part; and b) maintaining the flatelastomer bodies arranged between the central supporting body and thelower frame part by first loosening the screw nuts on the studs abovethe upper frame part and then raising the gearbox with the centralsupporting body by rotor weight or by an auxiliary device.
 14. Themethod according to claim 13, wherein if the steps a) and b) areperformed in succession, after execution of the sub-steps of step a) andbefore execution of the sub-steps of step b), the frame is tensionedagain and the disassembly holding body is removed, and wherein if thesteps b) and a) are performed in succession, after execution of thesub-steps of step b) and before execution of the sub-steps of step a),the frame is tensioned again.
 15. The gearbox supporting deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the central supporting body is connectedwith the main frame and the frame with the gearbox.
 16. The gearboxsupporting device according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the flatelastomer bodies are elliptical shaped.
 17. The gearbox supportingdevice according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the flat elastomerbodies are circular shaped.